Across the Line
by Sanru
Summary: There was something about Helomechs that no mech could understand. They were designed for war, they were designed to fight, especially when facing another helomech on the opposite side. They were all too much alike, even though neither Blades nor Vortex would admit to how similar they actually were. A series of one shots focused on their mutual hatred for each other.
1. Prologue: Playing with Jets

Disclaimer: I finally get around to play in the sandbox like everyone else. Does anyone have a shovel and a pail I could borrow? I want to make a sandcastle.

Author Notes: This is just a collection of one shots focused around the rivalry between Blades and Vortex set roughly somewhere towards the end of season two G1. I did take some liberties with the timeline, events that never did happen, and mechs' roles in their respective teams but I attempted to keep everyone as in character to the show as possible. Let me know if I utterly failed at the please.

Sit back and enjoy as Vortex goes in search of confirmation about the newest helomech on Earth while having fun playing with an unfortunate Aerialbot at the same time.

Warnings: This story does have Vortex in it so expect torture scenes with semi graphic/graphic descriptions.

Across the Line

Prologue: Playing with Jets

"Ack!"

He saw the incoming laser fire and wrenched sharply to the side trying to avoid the shot. For a moment, he thought he had succeeded but, before he could rejoice and call his own rifle from subspace, he felt it hit his arm. There was no pain from the shot but he felt it in his shoulder joint when his arm suddenly stopped moving and the rest of his chassis kept going, resulting in a rather loud crack from the joint and an irate growl from him. He looked back at the offending appendage only to see a wad of quick setting glue covering everything from his elbow joint down and pinning it to the wall of the canyon.

"Fraggit!" He snapped and yanked at his arm, trying to free it despite the flare of pain that warned him not to yank too hard. He almost yanked again just in spite before he noticed movement out of the corner of his optic and turned towards it. Unsubspacing his rifle only to have his other arm hit with another glue pellet. His rifle fell to the ground with a clatter and both arms were now pinned together on the canyon side.

"Primus be slagged!" he snapped as he yanked on both arms trying to get them free. This was the whole reason why he hated having Air Raid as a wingman. Air Raid always got bored way too easily and now was off showboating who knew where while he was stuck on the ground. He was going to blow Thrust out of the sky the next chance he got for shooting him down, right after he beat the crap out of Air Raid for leaving his flank wide open and then leaving him to fend for himself!

He turned to glower at the mech approaching him, but he didn't let any of his anger or -even if he didn't want to admit it- embarrassment show. He schooled his features to blankness and pinged Silverbolt for back up. Air Raid may have been a slaghead and left him but Silverbolt would abandon a dogfight in a spark pulse to help any of his brothers.

And with Vortex sauntering up to him the sooner he had back up the better.

The Decepticon interrogator was meandering up to him without any rush in his step and that put him on guard. Since he wasn't actively trying to kill him, he could only assume that it meant Vortex wanted to talk to him about something which was never a good thing. He pinged Silverbolt again as Vortex slipped his glue gun back into subspace when he was at arms length from him and causally kicked Slingshot's gun further away from them.

"Now, what was your name again?" Vortex said cocking his helmet to one side, putting one curled servo to his battle mask while it was being supported at the elbow with his other servo. "I know you are one of Superion's arms. You are not Fireflight, unless he got repainted and changed his alt mode. He's the right arm. So… Oh yes, you must be Slingshot!" Vortex said with a snap of his digits ending by pointing at the aforementioned mech.

Slingshot growled at him.

"Oh aren't you a cute, little, vicious jet," Vortex said in a patronizing voice as he patted the top of Slingshot's helmet. "Don't worry, you'll be free soon I'm sure, and have the opportunity to eventually come back for a deliciously sweet revenge for both of us to enjoy. Though for vastly different reasons. Until then I need you to answer a few questions for me."

"Eat slag and rust," Slingshot hissed at him as he tried to kick the larger mech in the shin plating.

Vortex just danced back with a giggle bubbling out of his vocalizer, "And you have anger management issues too! How endearing!" He put his servos on either hip and leaned towards Slingshot, "Maybe when I'm done asking you questions I'll stick around and play with you for a bit."

Slingshot knew what kind of playing Vortex was talking about and he had no desire to participate in any of it. He yanked on his arms again which caused Vortex to chuckle at his predicament. This time when Slingshot's ped lashed out it connected with Vortex's shin. "You're spunk is so charming," Vortex said, acting as if he hadn't just been kicked. "Now are you going to answer some questions for me? Or should I just go grab Fireflight and talk to him?"

"Leave him alone," Slingshot growled in the most intimidating voice he could muster. Vortex had gotten a hold of Fireflight once before and the results hadn't been pretty. If his servos had been free he would have been rearranging the Decepticon major systems like he promised Fireflight after the first of many bad recharges to date. It was still impossible for his younger brother to recharge alone after almost six orns after his rescue. "Stay the slag away from him."

"Then why don't you be a good older brother and just answer a couple questions. I'll leave him alone, Combaticon honor." The Decepticon stood at attention and thumped his right servo closed into a fist against the left side of his chest plate with an audible clang.

"Like that means anything to me," Slingshot sneered, ignoring the formal military salute Vortex had just given him.

Slingshot got the feeling that Vortex was string at him blankly through his visor as his stance wilted slowly. "Alright then," the helicopter said perking back up after a moment. "I'll go get Fireflight. That kid will tell me anything."

As he started to walk away from him, Slingshot yanked brutally at his trapped arms. There was a grinding crunch from his right shoulder joint and the flare of pain was enough to tell him that he had almost ripped his arm off. "Leave him alone, Vortex!" he yelled at the Decepticon who was in the process of transforming and getting ready to dust off. "Stay away from him! Fraggit!" Vortex was beginning to gain altitude and Slingshot gritted his denta, enraged at the helplessness he was feeling. There was no way he could protect Fireflight glued to the wall like this.

"I'll tell you anything you want, just leave him alone!"

Slingshot hadn't realized he had said anything until Vortex spun around, transforming and landing ped first before him as if he had never started to leave. "Slag it all to pit," Slingshot mutter to himself as he slumped against the cliff face. Vortex grabbed his chin and forced him to look at his visor. _'Where are you Silverbolt?!' _he cried through the bond, letting a touch of his anxiety through with his thoughts.

_'I'm coming, just hanging on.'_ A wave of reassurance and determination came not only from Silverbolt but from Air Raid. They were fighting somemech by the feel of it, probably a mech that Vortex got to delay them. It figured that using the bond would finally get Air Raid to pay attention to him again. Either that or Silverbolt got after him on the comms after Slingshot first requested back up.

"Calling your brothers for help?" Vortex said in a calm voice, squeezing his chin brutally. "Don't worry, I'm won't hurt you anymore than necessary. Everything that happens from here on out is all your doing, Slingshot. Just answer my questions and nothing will happen to you." He paused for a moment as Slingshot snorted in disbelief. "There's a rumor that the Autobot's recently got another transfer of soldiers from Cybertron. Is that true?"

Slingshot jerked his faceplates free of the crushing grip and growled out, "You know as well as I do that there was a new transfer." The twelve new mechs had arrive almost two orns ago on the Decepticon space bridge after the Autobots 'borrowed' it for a bit. "Stop playing stupid."

Slingshot never saw him move but he felt the blade slide neatly into one of the transformation seams in his side. Miraculously, it didn't cut anything but Vortex next line made him realize that the blade had been positioned on purpose. "You should speak to your elders with respect, little jet. I don't want to hurt you but you're leaving me with no choice. Now, don't move or you'll cut yourself. I would hate it if you got hurt, Slingshot. One of these new mechs is another helo model, correct?"

Again it had been pretty obvious, Bruticus and Superion had been in the middle of a fight with each other but helomechs in general were very rare. When Blades had first dusted off, half the Autobot fighters there had paused to stare at him and more than that many Decepticons did as well. Vortex had to have heard about him if he hadn't noticed him himself. Another smart aft remark came to his mind but there was a blade was still wedged in his side. He had to settle for just glaring at the Decepticon but he did give the interrogator a single stiff nod.

"Oh and now you're grumpy. I'm so sorry I have to do this to you but you've been such a good little jettling so far. Maybe I'll reward you when I'm done." Vortex ran a thumb along one of the ridges in his helmet and Slingshot jerked away from the comforting touch. He knew enough about Vortex to know that a reward from him was just as bad -if not worse- than his normal torture methods. It was just one of his normal processor games. He couldn't fall for them. "What's this little helo's designation?"

Slingshot also knew enough about Vortex to know that him showing so much fascination in one mech was never a good thing. It was going to hurt but he tightened his lips into a thin line and then looked away from Vortex, focusing on the middle distance over the Decepticon's shoulder. Some of his dread must've filtered into the bond, because he felt Silverbolt send another pulse of reassurance. _'I'm coming!'_

"I'm waiting Slingshot," He kept his face a placid as possible while he gritted his denta and braced himself as best he could. "Oh, your trying to protect him, aren't you? He must mean a lot to you…as much as you're little brother, I wonder?" The blade in his side moved a little, causing him to flinch slightly, but it wasn't enough to actually cut through anything. Slingshot started to shut down pain receptors in that area, he wouldn't know how badly he was hurt but at least this way he wouldn't feel it right away.

"Tell me about this 'copter. Don't make me open your mouth for you." Vortex's voice had dropped in pitch steadily and now it was almost a whisper. "Tell me, Slingshot. What is this mech's designation?" The blade shifted a little more but this time Slingshot was able to not flinch. The seam the blade was sunk into was right above his hip joint and it felt like the tip of it was scrapping against part of his energon processing unit. He was going to be leaking to death quickly if Vortex puncture it.

There was a gusty sigh, "You made me do this to you, Slingshot. Remember that."

He caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his optic before there was a blade suddenly striking his faceplates. It hit with precision accuracy, slicing into his lip components before it was being thrust backwards in the same movement. His denta were forced apart but the blade kept going, slicing through the thin plating on either side of his mouth. The sudden attack and the blinding pain as the blade moved cause him to howl in pain only to choke on the sudden rush of energon spilled from the capillary lines being cut open in his face plates.

_'Slingshot!'_

He didn't think Vortex was going to stop for an astrosecond but, right before the blade would have begun to bit into his intakes, it stopped. The blade stayed in his mouth but it was no longer moving. Some subroutine that he couldn't isolate tried to close his mouth but that just caused more energon to flow from the wounds and he started to gag. It felt like his glossa had even been cut.

As suddenly as the knife appeared it was gone. Being swiped out at a slight angle, enough so that his abused plating was cut just a millimeter deeper. He hung his head, coughing up processed energon that ended up streaking down his side and over the knife hilt still in his transformation seam. He whimpered. Even he had to admit that a little bit of fear was starting to creep up out of the depth of his processor.

His fear leaking into the bond caused an explosion of emotions to start swirling about. Fireflight was panicking, a garbled stream of nonsense was coming from his part of the bond. Skydive was worried and Slingshot could feel him piece together what was happening to him when he realized that Vortex was the only Decepticon missing from the battlefield. Fireflight's panic reached and all time new high as he undoubtable remembered what Vortex had done to him. Air Raid was furious at himself for leaving Slingshot alone and a grim sense of determination filled his part of the bond. Silverbolt was trying to reassure him that they were coming but his fear for Slingshot's safety wasn't all that reassuring to Slingshot. He knew he was in trouble, he didn't need somemech adding on to that fear.

A servo suddenly grabbed his faceplates and forced his helmet back against the cliff with more force than was necessary. Vortex shushed him gently, wiping up some of the excess energon spilling down his faceplates with a soft touch and a clean cloth he had pulled from subspace. There was no sign of the second knife having ever been there even though Slingshot had the wound to prove it. "It's going to be alright," Vortex said soothingly. "I didn't want to do that, Slingshot. Please, don't make me do that to you again."

Slingshot just tried to pull his faceplates away from Vortex.

"Slingshot," the mech was saying his designation in a sing-song tone. "What is the helicopter's designation?" The cloth was removed from its assigned task and Slingshot felt Vortex's servo trace down the side of his neck, fingering some of the cables and lines there. A quiet threat hanging in the air between them.

Slingshot forced himself to allow the energon to pool in his mouth, despite his desire to spit it out. "Blades," he whimpered. "He's called Blades." There was a good chance that Soundwave had already gotten Blades' designation through the Decepticon spy network so Slingshot knew he wasn't giving away any vital information that the Decepticon's didn't already know. With him complying with Vortex's demands, it would pull him more off guard and a just a little bit closer.

"Oh Slingshot, see how easy that was? Why did you make me hurt you before? I really didn't want to hurt you this time." Vortex cooed. "Blades is part of a gestalt, isn't he?"

Again, Soundwave probably already knew that so Slingshot nodded his head, careful not to slosh the energon out of his mouth. He wondered why Vortex was asking him these questions in the first place. This wasn't anything like what his typical interrogations were like if the reports and rumors were true. This was a personal interest.

"He fights with his rotors right? Like a pair of swords? Just like I do?"

This time Slingshot answered by spitting the mouth full of energon right onto Vortex's battle mask and visor.

For a moment nothing in the small canyon moved, even the gentle breeze that had been blowing since Slingshot had first ditched into the canyon had stopped. Vortex stood frozen in mid pose, staring at Slingshot as the energon started to trickle down and congeal on his facemask. Despite the fact that it hurt worst then when he had one of his wings ripped off by Blitzwing, Slingshot smirked as best as he could. When Vortex finally did move it was to take a step back and draw a clean cloth out of subspace, which he wiped the energon away with. He never looked away from Slingshot, who was starting to become unnerved by the thousand mile stare Vortex was giving him.

"You were never taught any manners, were you?" Vortex said as the cloth vanished back into his subspace. "Well then, here's a repeat of one I already told you," Slingshot was able to hide the wince as Vortex grabbed the blade in his side. "Respect you elders." He then drew the knife up the transformation seam in Slingshot's side and traced it around the back of his shoulder joint.

While Slingshot knew he was lucky that Vortex hadn't stabbed inward and damage his energon processing center, this wasn't any better. He howled again as the blade sliced through wires and hoses in his side. He could tell that the blade wasn't going deep enough to critically injure him but it was deep enough to cause some serious, painful, but not spark threatening damage. He managed to put a block on the bond in time to prevent his brothers from feeling the backlash of his pain, but he could feel their distress as he clamped down on his end of the bond. He felt an underlying rage and promise of revenge echoing from his brothers -the feelings were especially strong from Fireflight which surprised him- through his block.

"Don't do that again," Vortex's said with almost a bored tone in his voice. Slingshot started to feel his processor sputter from the overload of pain piercing his processing centers. He swooned against the cliff face only to have his aching faceplate slapped hard enough to whip his helmet from one side then to the other. "And don't fall asleep just yet. I'd hate to have to go get Fireflight and persuade him to tell me more about Blades."

The threat to his younger brother was enough of an incentive for Slingshot to struggle to remain coherent. He could take this, he could take anything Vortex threw at him, especially if he could prevent Vortex from going after Fireflight or any of his other brothers. "Surprised Soundwave hasn't told you all this yet," he slurred shaking his helmet in an attempt to rattle several of his processes back into order.

"That's not what I asked."

"Of course he does," Slingshot snapped starting to become more irritated than afraid, the pain finally starting to fray his already short temper. The hydraulics in his knees were losing pressure and he had to lean his weight against the cliff face to remain upright. The strain in his arms was beginning to warp his armor, the subtle groan of bending metal coming to his audios. "Why are you so interested in Blades?!"

Vortex perked up at his confirmation, ignoring Slingshot's question, and seemed to do what Air Raid had one time called a 'happy dance'. That was impossible and slightly distrubing to process so Slingshot rebooted his optics thinking that the damage was starting to cause them to glitch. However, Vortex was still bouncing about when they came back online and Slingshot's logic processor momentarily seized up before quickly rebooting. "He's like me," the Decepticon said in a tone of voice that made him sound like a human child who had just been given a puppy. "I thought it was some kind of joke but it is true! He's just like me!" He spun away from Slingshot as he continued to dance.

Slingshot hissed, "He's nothing like you." Blades was an annoying, overbearing, stuck up, slag-headed fragger with his helmet shoved up his own exhaust port far enough he could see the light of day again. He and Blades didn't get along and had already had a few minor fistfights, one of which had landed them both in the medbay with a rather irate Ratchet. Neither Hotspot or Silverbolt had been to thrilled by that stunt either but Blades wasn't half as irritating as Vortex was and no where near as crazy. He was just a 'dickhead' according to the human language that the Autobots had adopted, not a complete psychopath like Vortex was.

"You wouldn't understand," Vortex said sadly, wilting again as he stopped dancing about like an overjoyed sparkling. "Do you know when the last time I saw, let alone fought, with another helomech?" He continued without waiting for an answer, gesturing with his hands in wide arch. "Vorns before I was locked up in the Box. There's a camaraderie that you jets would never understand. Even the Seekers wouldn't understand it." Vortex seemed to deflate completely, letting out a long drawn out sigh from his exhaust vents. "It's been so lonely…"

"But now," Vortex perked back up as he spoke again with a gleeful tone to his voice that caused a shiver to race up Slingshot's back struts. "There is another rotary mech here and I'm not so alone anymore. And Soundwave wasn't lying to me in the report. We are so much alike… It's only a matter of time before we meet on the battlefield and then everyone will understand what it's really like to fight. We'll be mortal enemies!" He roared his last line at the sky, lifting his arms up and out like he was waiting for a blessing from Primus himself.

"You're fragging insane," Slingshot hissed as his knees buckled and he had to scramble for a moment to prevent himself from sliding down the cliff.

"So I've been told," Vortex said nodding his head in agreement. "But enough about my mental issues, we must now focus on you. I thank you for confirming the information on Blades and even though you didn't except my offer originally, I'll stay away from Fireflight from now on. You, on the other servo, are way too much fun." Vortex produced what looked like a set of large needles from his subspace, the three of them held apart from each another by the digits on his servo. "I think I'm going to enjoy this game. Please feel free to scream like you were before." He started back towards Slingshot with predatory grace and cooed, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a beautiful voice?"

Slingshot pressed against the cliff and tried to calm his spark pulse as Vortex approached. Panicking wasn't going to do him much good and there was no way he was going to plead and beg with Vortex. He refused to give the interrogator any satisfaction. That being said, he braced himself for the coming pain, he wouldn't make a peep, no matter how much it hurt.

Vortex took his battered face in a crushing grip and forced his chin up, exposing his neck. Slingshot lashed out with his ped and managed to kick the side of Vortex's knee joint causing it to buckle slightly and Vortex to stumble back. It also caused Slingshot to lose his footing and the pain in his shoulder joints caused him to whimper as he struggled to stand once more. "Oh yes," Vortex said as his rotors trembled against his back in what appeared to be delight. "I'm going to really enj-" The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the roar of jet engines racing down the canyon, the echoes reverberating off of the rock walls making it sound like an entire squadron was racing through the canyon. Vortex subspaced his needles and pulled out his assault rifle, pivoting towards where the sound seemed to be coming from, servo checking the rifle over quickly before bring it up to bear.

He never got a chance to fire.

Later Slingshot found out that Skydive had thrown together a haste plan using what he knew of acoustics to throw Vortex off his game. The relatively small canyon that Slingshot had been caught in had a wider much more passable end and a thin tapered end, riddled with all kinds of natural obstacles created by various forms of erosion. This was Skydive's approach vector, having the most skill and being the best flier out of the Aerialbots, he was sure that he could safely navigate through the smaller portion of the canyon while the rest of his brothers roared down and through the much more open approach. The sounds of their engines echoing off the canyon walls were enough to make Skydive's engine sound like nothing more than another echo.

The surprise attack hit hard and fast. Slingshot watched as Vortex turned and readied his weapon only to jerk and nearly drop it as laser fire lit up his back struts causing his rotors to fan out in surprise. He stumbled as it came to a stop, hissing in pain and anger as energon began dribbling on the ground beneath him. The sound of a mech transforming reached Slingshot's audios astroseconds before Skydive landed between him and Vortex, staring down the mech with his pistol already drawn and his back to his brother. Cursing vehemently in Cybertronian, Vortex turned back towards them about to shoot only to be rammed by an enraged concord jet moving at full speed.

Slingshot wished that his helmet turned enough to see the rest of the fight, to see Vortex get the beat down he wished he could be dishing out, but Vortex was launched out of his vision by the impact. Silverbolt was already half transformed with a look on his faceplates that was furious yet eerily calm and cold. There was nothing in the way of shy hesitancies that he was use to seeing on his oldest brother's faceplates. Slingshot was amazed, Silverbolt rarely got angry at anything -disappointed and embarrassed maybe- but that look on his faceplates meant he was pissed beyond reason and looking for an outlet for his aggression. The last time he had seen Silverbolt look ready to dissemble somemech was just after they had rescued Fireflight from Vor-

Oh.

Slingshot didn't get to see any more of the one sided fight but he heard every ring of metal impacting with metal and choked squeals coming Vortex as Silverbolt laid into the other mech. He was the second least aggressive out of the Aerialbots but when he was pissed, Silverbolt used the fact that he was the strongest of them to his advantage in a fight. Judging by the sound of rending metal behind him, Slingshot could only guess that Silverbolt was ripping Vortex's armor to shreds.

A rotor went flying down the canyon and Slingshot revised that previous thought to 'ripping his rotors off'. It was then he realized that Skydive and Air Raid were there, the former holding him up against the cliff while Air Raid carefully cut away at the glue trapping him to the wall with an energon knife. Behind both of them with his rifle drawn and optics that kept flickering from Slingshot to the sky above them was Fireflight. He was trembling slightly and the looks he kept casting Slingshot were very disturbed, probably from his appearance and remembering what his own torture session with Vortex had been like. Slingshot shifted slightly to try and take some of his weight from Skydive and prove to Fireflight he was going to be alright. "Don't," he was ordered by his brother. "Let me take your weight, you're alright now Slingshot."

Before Slingshot could say anything the glue finally let loose from the rock and Slingshot found himself sagging in Skydive's grip. He arms were still stuck together with glue but they were no longer helping to support his weight. The dull ache that he had barely been aware of burst into pain causing him to whimper as his arms swung limply in front of him while Skydive pulled him away from the cliff. "E-easy, with him Skydive," Air Raid's voice was uneven and stuttering slightly. Air Raid looked about as upset as Fireflight did but not about the same thing exactly. Slingshot could feel through the bond the huge amount of self blame he was laying on himself every time he looked at Slingshot. "Lay him down on his good side so I can get a better look at him."

Skydive moved to comply with their medical tech's orders only to freeze when Fireflight suddenly yelled, "INCOMING!" He opened fire on something but Slingshot didn't get a chance to see what was happening as Skydive moved, half dragging him behind a group of rocks off to the side as laser fire blew holes in the ground the size of Optimus' alt mode. Skydive covered him from flying debris with his own body which only pissed Slingshot off more. He hated to be a burden to his brothers almost as much as he hated not having any idea about what was happening.

Skydive must have realized this because he said over the incoming fire, "Blast Off and Onslaught! They're after Vortex!" He peaked up over their shelter, gun out of subspace and ready to fire, before ducking back down just as quick. "They got him," he added grimly as the heavy laser fire suddenly began to diminish and the sound of Blast Off's alt mode taking off drowned out everything else in the canyon. The wall of heat that washed over him and Skydive was enough to over tax his already over stressed systems and his vision fuzzed over with static.

He came online only a few earth minutes later, laying on his side with most of the armor on his damaged side peeled back and away from his internals. By the feel of his lagging systems, Air Raid had given him a depressor, dampening his pain receptors but also making him feel disjointed and numb. Blearily, he started to lift his helmet only to have a servo press it back down which he managed to grumbled incoherently at.

"Don't Slingshot," Silverbolt said in a voice that was soft and gentle. "Don't move around. Ratchet is on his way."

Knowing that his commander was standing over him reminded Slingshot of the danger lurking in Vortex's words. He tried to say something but the damage to his faceplates caused him to just make whimpering noises instead. The servo on his helmet gently traced along the same ridge that Vortex had earlier but there was nothing about the touch that disgusted him. Instead all it did was relax Slingshot and he let out a sigh from his exhaust vents.

No matter how much he wanted to slip back off line, Slingshot knew he still had to tell Silverbolt about Vortex's scheme. There was no telling how long his repairs were going to take, Vortex could have already gotten to Blades by then. He had to warn Silverbolt. With a huff he tried his communicator only to find out that the depressor had dampened most of his internal systems to the point they were either in, or almost in, standby mode. He vaguely wondered why Air Raid had gave him an extra powerful dose before pressing into the bond and reaching towards Silverbolt.

Of course, as soon as they felt him focus his presence into the bond, it meant all his brothers had to reassure him and give him the equivalent of a hug through the bond. Air Raid was especially clingy, sorrow and self incrimination dripping from his presence in waves. Slingshot huffed, he hated it when his brothers were overly emotional and worried about him. He'd been through worse -like when Devastator had nearly ripped him in half, now that had been bad- and for him this was all over.

Right?

Frag, Silverbolt and Ratchet were probably going to make him talk to Smokescreen about this incident.

He pushed that thought from his mind as he mentally embraced Air Raid, giving him a small pulse of reassurance but 'growled' loudly at him not to abandon his post again. _'What if it had been Skydive or Silverbolt or Fireflight?' _He sent only to Air Raid. _'Vortex would have destroyed them.' _It was harsh and he could feel Air Raid shrink away with an even deeper feeling of remorse but acceptance. With his brother chastised -for now- Slingshot turned back towards Silverbolt's presence. His other three brothers had 'stepped' back in the bond so that he and Air Raid could have their moment, but feeling Slingshot searching for him made Silverbolt 'step' back in, wrapping his presence around him tight enough that Slingshot wondered if it was possible to choke on his eldest brother's worry.

_'I'm here, you're safe.' _Silverbolt send with a fierce sense of determination tinted with an under laying anger and outright hate. Despite the importance of his message, Slingshot relaxed at the promise his wing leader gave to all of them. _'He won't touch you -any of you- ever again.' _

Slingshot felt a smirk tug at his sore faceplates, the over-protective hanger-mom had struck again. Still, the knowledge that Silverbolt would be purposely gunning for the Decepticon helicopter for the foreseeable future would be helpful, especially for Blades. _'He's not after us.' _He sent back tiredly as the depressor started to lull him into recharge. He hear tires screeching to a halt and the sound of multiple transformations somewhere nearby but those were unimportant as he pushed one finally thought to Silverbolt before he succumbed to the depressor's affects.

_'Silverbolt, he's after Blades.'_


	2. Chapter 1: Shipwrecked

Disclaimer: Finally get to play in the sandbox like everyone else. Does anyone have a shovel and a pail I could borrow? I want to make a sandcastle.

Author Notes: Blades finally gets to meet Vortex and ignores all warnings just to take him on. Too bad that those warnings were well justified.

Despite the sexual references, there will be no romantic relationship between these two (personally I feel as though I can't write romance to save my life so there is no way I could even attempt to pull off a relationship as screwy and complex as this would probably end up being). Besides, Vortex strike me as a kind of mech that –if he finds a physiological weakness- he would use to his advantage and exploit it with abandon.

Warnings: Humans rescuing themselves, tanker exploding, Blades being Blades, Vortex being Vortex, and sexual teasing (both intentional and not).

* * *

Across the Line

Chapter One: Shipwrecked

* * *

Blades soared over the battlefield, dodging a few stray shoots as he headed for his intended target. He wanted to twist around and join in the fight rather than weave through but he knew he had more important mission. He and his brothers were rescue bots first and foremost, and right now he had rescuing to do. Especially, since he was the only one of his brothers who could reach the heavily damaged tanker sitting off shore.

The ground beneath him quickly gave way to water as he raced towards the tanker. Now that he no longer worried about stray laser fire he increased his speed wanting to get to the humans faster. Knowing Streetwise, he was already figuring out another way to reach the tanker and the humans onboard but, until then, Blades was all they were going to get. He just hoped none of them needed emergency medical care. He wasn't even half as good as First Aid was when he was in recharge. Blades knew that until his brothers could get out there the only mechs that could help him were the Aerialbots, Seaspray or Powerglide. He knew from past experiences -though they meant well- that the jets weren't very good at the whole rescuing thing. They seemed very preoccupied with the Seekers anyway so he didn't have to worry about 'explaining' why moving injured humans at mach three was a very bad idea.

Again.

Hot Spot didn't like that he was out there alone, Blades could feel his concern over the bond, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Except maybe order the minibot Seaspray to back him up which -knowing Hot Spot like he did- he had probably already done. He sent a wordless pulse of reassurance back to his oldest brother. He had everything under control.

His sensors were picking up a flurry of movement on the tanker's deck as the crew headed for the life boats. He applauded their decision internally as he scanned the immediate area for enemy energy signatures. The Decepticon Seekers had managed to disable the ship's engines as well as punch the deckhouse full of holes. Despite the ship's sorry looking appearance, the only damage free area of the ship was the large forward fuel tanks for very obvious reasons. It was apparent that the ship's Captain decided that his crews' lives were more important than a super tanker full of fuel.

And it was a good thing too that they had decided to not wait around for an Autobot to evacuate them from the danger zone. His long range sensors were picking up a Decepticon energy signal dropping down from high orbit and heading straight for the tanker. He slowed down and proceeded to hover next to the tanker, mindful of his backwash on the lifeboats still being lowered into the ocean. "Is that the last of your crew, Captain?!" he hollered down to the human in one of the last lifeboats hitting the water. He continued to watch his scanners closely. It was Blast Off and he had a feeling that there were more Combaticons inside.

"Yes! Where should we go?!" The captain yelled back at him gesturing at the battle on the nearest shore. "We can't land there!"

"Head about a mile up the shoreline, First Aid and Groove will meet you there!" Blast Off didn't seem interested in shooting at him just yet and he could only hope that the orbital sniper was too preoccupied with his reentry to start shooting anytime soon. "Get going! I'll cover you!"

The relatively small lifeboats took off quickly for human vessels. Blades followed behind them keeping a close watch on the approaching shuttle. He did what he could to keep a healthy distance from the humans so that he wouldn't have to worry about them getting hit by any stray Decepticon shots fire at him but still remain close enough to be able to assist them if the really needed his help. He doubted they would, so far they had done a rather good job at rescuing themselves.

Blast Off did finally send a few shots at him but they seemed only halfhearted as they missed him and the humans by several hundred astrofeet. That didn't fit with the shuttle's track record or MO. It wasn't until his hatch opened and a gray rotary mech leapt from his cargo hold, transformed into a helicopter, and started towards him with auxiliary engines roaring that Blades had an idea of what was going on.

Vortex.

Vortex had cornered and put Slingshot in the medbay for an orn because the Decepticon wanted confirmation on what he had heard about Blades. Silverbolt had been adamant that Blades stay away from the other 'copter, claiming that Vortex was too much for Blades to handle and to comm him if the mech came after Blades. Stupid perfectionist jet. Blades knew that he hadn't meant it but it sounded like Silverbolt had seriously doubted his fighting ability. He knew he could handle Vortex. It was just another Decepticon with a superiority complex that happened to turn into a helicopter too. He could take care of himself, he didn't need a jet to bail him out of trouble.

But then, Hot Spot had found out and made him promise…

"Frag," he mumbled to himself. At least it looked like Blast Off and Swindle -who was also leaping from the shuttle's cargo hold- were going to be more concerned with stealing the oil then joining in the fight. :Blades to Hot Spot, Blast Off and Swindle are on the tanker and I have Vortex bearing down on me,: he said on his radio as he started towards the Decepticon, putting more distance between him and the humans still racing for safety. His safety was second only to the humans and that was going to be his story when asked why he had moved to engage Vortex. He couldn't override his programming after all.

:Rodger Blades, just be **careful**,: his older brother stressed to him over the comm link, sounding worried. His portion of the bond -dim as it was during combat- flared briefly in worry and helplessness. :I'm going to ask Silverbolt to get an Aerialbot to back you up as soon as possible.:

Blades mentally rolled his optics and let a little bit of frustration leak into the bound but he didn't say anything. He really didn't like working with the jets any more than he had too and there was no way Air Raid and Slingshot were not going to let it go about him needing **their **backup. Usually it was the other way around or it was up to him to help locate the jets after they had crashed in the middle of nowhere.

He had no more time to stew over annoying jets as the other helicopter came within firing range and sent a barrage of bullets at him. He quickly twisted away, heading further away from the shore and drawing fire away from where the humans and his two brothers where soon going to be. The other helicopter didn't even seem to miss a beat and easily turned to put him on an intercept course with the Autobot. Blades turned himself around and opened fire as well, pointing his lasers higher up on the Decepticon trying to hit him in the rotors or rotor assembly. He knew it probably wouldn't stop him -Vortex could fly in root mode after all- but it would cut down on his maneuverability and speed a lot.

Vortex was obviously use to someone trying to take out his rotor assembly because the mech turned and flipped himself about so the he took the incoming laser fire on his undercarriage instead. Blades balked for a moment, surprised at the thought of even doing such a dangerous stunt. If he had tried something like that the possibly of the shots piercing into his engine or possibly even his laser core were too high for comfort. He really needed to talk to Ratchet and maybe perhaps Wheeljack about getting an armor upgrade. If he could pull off that same maneuver it could be invaluable in the future.

Filing that extra bit of information away, Blades quickly put on a burst of speed, leading Vortex further out to sea before he cut around to run along the far side of the ship from shore. Vortex would have to expend more fuel that way to catch up to him and he really rather fight the Decepticon on shore where he would have more room to maneuver better. The fact this flight path would have him landing further away from any other Autobots so he could go one on one with Vortex was purely coincidence.

He sent a few more shots towards the mech to keep Vortes's attention on him and not let him get distracted by the humans. The last thing he wanted was for Vortex to go after them and his brothers instead. While Groove could wrestle with the best of them, Blades didn't think that Vortex would be interested in a wrestling match as much as just shooting the slag out of Groove. First Aid wouldn't stand a chance. He couldn't even bring himself to hit somemech, let alone one who was about to stab him through the spark with a laser scalpel.

Whether it was his laser fire or the fact that Silverbolt's warning was sound, Vortex followed him without even veering off course at all. His gattling guns rang out again and this time Blades actually felt the bullets whiz past his canopy as he swerved preparing ready to fire back. It was at about the apex of his swerve, when he was beginning to shift his weight back to the other side, that he noticed that there was a sheen to the water that was very unnatural. He let his focus shift a little bit only to realize that Swindle had apparently dropped a pressurized hose of oil that was proceeding to spray all over the ship's deck and into the water. Over the din of his rotors and engine, Blades also heard Blast Off yelling at his teammate who was struggling to get control of the hose again. By the sounds of it the shuttle liked getting dirty about as much as Sunstreaker did.

Blades moment of indecision cost him as the roar of Vortex kicked in his auxiliary engines to maximum burn, allowing him to charge forward at almost triple his normal speed. Vortex reached Blades before he could level himself out and open fire. Apparently Vortex had gotten it in his processor to try ramming the slightly smaller helicopter and knock him out of the sky. Blades twisted his weight again and instead of crashing into his side, Vortex got a canopy full of his landing gear. Blades was fighting to adjust his course and compensate for the midair crash only to suddenly feel like he had both Streetwise and Groove hanging off one of his landing struts. Laughter reached his audios as he struggled to hold up the unexpected weight, his sensors quickly informing him that Vortex had transformed and was currently hanging off him.

"What's wrong little copter?! Not use to heavy lifting?!" Vortex laughed at him.

Well, two could play at that game.

Blades transformed so that Vortex was holding onto his one arm rather than dangling underneath him. Blades now had a free servo which he was quick to use and dent in the side of Vortex's faceplate. The other copter grunted in surprise as if he didn't expect Blades to hit him that hard, servos twitching on the landing strut. Blades hauled back to hit Vortex again but he ran out of time before they both hit the oil slicked water of the Pacific Ocean.

Cybertronians in general were not good swimmers and, though most of their systems were able to resist prolonged exposure to water, being submerged in water for long periods of time was not a good idea if one wanted to remain functioning for long. Blades knew this. He also knew that First Aid was going to mad -or at least as mad as First Aid ever got- if he had to replace most of his circuits again because of corrosion. The impact with the oily water had caused Vortex to let him go. He looked about the water but didn't see any signs of his foe. Blades knew he was somewhere nearby. Vortex wasn't the kind of mech to just give up but Blades knew he couldn't stay under the water much longer. His internal temperature was rising and water was leaking past his seals. Blades kicked his legs, spinning his tail rotors to help give him a boast, and broke through to the surface in one try.

For a moment, he floated there indecisively as he tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't transform in the water, he'd sink before he could get in the air. He also had no desire to try and climb up on the ship and take on the other two Combaticons alone. However, those were really his only two options if he wanted to get airborne again. He gritted his denta in annoyance as he realized he could call for a jet to swoop over him and lift him high enough out of the water to transform properly. As if. Bad enough Hot Spot had requested assistance for him. Which still hadn't shown up, the Seekers must have been giving them more trouble than normal. Vortex still hadn't surfaced and Blades had to smile at that. He was a lot easier to deal with than Blades had thought.

With his processor made up, Blades started towards the tanker only to have a cascade of oily water erupt from behind him along with Vortex yelling at the top of his vocalizer, "MARCO!" Blades had time to think 'what the frag' before he was suddenly dunked under the water with the Decepticon on top of him. Blades didn't have time to process anything but managed to quickly twist himself around and pulled Vortex over his head with the same movement. That put them more or less face to face and Blades took the opportunity again to punch him before they both kicked their ways back up to the surface.

Blades sucked a quick vent full of air as he broke the surface only to feel his head snap back as Vortex belted him across the face. His faceplate warped slightly and a small part of him knew Aid was going to be pissed at having to pop that one out. He answered Vortex's hit with one of his own before he could think about 'Aid revenge too much. By the end of this fight Blades was certain that Aid was really going to be having the surges getting him all cleaned up and repaired to working order again.

They continued to trade punches back and forth. Each hit becoming more aggressive and violent as the oily water thrashed and churned about them. Blades was beginning to feel the effects of their fighting. He was eating through power quicker than normal in a fight, probably due to the fact he was struggling to keep his primary intakes and exhaust vents above water. He was also beginning to take some serious damage. Vortex had been repeatedly punching at his right shoulder and upper chest plate which he thought were just missing his faceplates. Now it was becoming apparent that the larger mech was trying to maim him and make it impossible for him to fire his rifle as well as transform into his alt mode.

Even though he didn't like it, Blades realized that a tactical retreat was in order but first he had to fight his way away from the larger mech before he could even try transforming. An unhealthy groan came from the armor on his shoulder as it took another hit and Blades kicked out at the other mech. Vortex apparently hadn't been expecting that and for a brief second Blades was free and clear of the other mech's attacks. He tried to swim away only for Vortex to grab his ped and pull him back.

"Where do you think you're going?" Blades punched him in the side of the face causing the word 'going' to be more of a warble than an actual word. "We haven't even gotten started yet!" Before Blades could punch his faceplate again, Vortex dove underwater, dragging Blades down with him.

Resealing his vents before too much water got into his intakes, Blades kicked at the mech holding his ped only to accomplish nothing. He could feel the metal denting inwards so he knew that Vortex was feeling something but the other mech just kept ignoring him. Snarling to himself internally, Blades reached towards the one point that hurt worse than anything else on a rotary mech's anatomy. He dug the fingers of his right servo underneath the hub of the rotors themselves, along the swashplates, and squeezed.

Vortex convulsed and released his ped instantly but Blades was just getting started. He quickly grabbed at the back of Vortex's helmet, holding the Decepticon in front of him where he couldn't even try to fight his way free. He continued to dig his fingers into the hub and watched as the decepticon trembled and thrash in his grasp. His grim satisfaction turned into horror when Vortex's head twisted about enough for him to see his visor.

The slagger was getting off on this!

Blades released him in disgust and kicked the 'con further away from him as he surged to the surface. He watched Vortex carefully and after a moment's hesitation the other mech swam up after him. Blades broke the surface first, followed quickly by Vortex, though there was now about ten astrofeet of room between them. "You were getting off on that?!" Blades snapped, horrified and disgusted.

"Yeah," the other mech said, voice wavering slightly but there were no signs of remorse from him. "Why did you stop?" Blades could only gape, the fact that they were in the middle of a battle became a trivial matter to be dealt with later. "Well?" Vortex said a little annoyed.

"That's… That's disgusting!" Blades said finally finding his voice. "We're in the middle of a fight! We're not even on the same side. And that _hurts_!"

"That just makes it all the more kinky," the Decepticon helicopter said with a suggestive tilt of his helmet. "So, are you going to continue?"

"NO!" Blades screamed indignantly.

"You tease," Vortex hissed.

"I'm not a tease!"

"You grabbed my hub!"

"If I had known that would have turned you on, I never would have grabbed there!"

"But you did!"

"I was trying to make you let go of me!"

"Still you did and now you're backing out. That makes you a tease!"

Blades opened his mouth to try and prove his innocents only to pause. There was no reason for him to be defending his actions against a 'con. If anything he should go about beating him and make a point of defragging his logic circuits later. "That's it!" he snapped as he hurried towards Vortex.

"Oh, so you've changed y-"

Blades punched him in faceplate before he could finish but it seemed like that was what Vortex wanted as the gray mech grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer. Still grossed out by Vortex getting turned on by somebot mauling his hub, Blades tried to pull his servo free causing both of them to roll over in the water. Blades kneed the other mech as hard as he could only to be helmet butted in return.

They rolled over and over in the water, punching and kicking, as they floundered about trying to gain the upper hand against each other. Blades was debating pulling out his blaster to try and shoot the Decepticon when he suddenly bounced into a steel plate. "Wha-" he said glancing over his shoulder to see the hull of the tanker but he didn't get a chance to move away from it before Vortex was there, trying to grab his wrists and pin him to the side of the ship.

Blades kicked him in the stomach plates and -on a whim- scrambled up him, using Vortex like an impromptu ladder and shoving his helmet underwater as he went. He pulled himself up onto the deck of the tanker, glanced down to ensure he had a moment before Vortex caught up, only to look up into the barrel of Swindle's rifle. Blades froze as the jeep smiled at him. "Well, what are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be busy elsewhere doing something more heroic than being held at gun point?"

Even though he was asking him questions, Blades had a feeling that Swindle wasn't looking for any answers. The Combaticon jerked his gun up twice and Blades got the picture, raising both his servos so that they were next to his helmet. The sound of thrusters came from behind him along with a rush of water off a chassis. Now Vortex was up there with them making Blades grit his denta in frustration. At least Blast Off was too busy hovering over the deck, loading up on fuel. That meant that Blades really only had to deal with two Combaticons before stopping Blast Off from stealing all the oil. Somehow.

"So, what are we going to do with him?"

Blades didn't hear a response from Vortex but felt a hand land on his shoulder. "Well," he said at length. "There is a number of things we can do with him but I'd rather he finish doing something for me."

Blades shook his head. "You can't be serious…" he muttered in disbelief.

Vortex obviously heard him, "Yes, I'm serious! You started it so you're going to finish it!"

"Wait, what did he do?" Swindle said looking completely confused but still covering Blades. Again, he wondered where the backup Hot Spot spoke about was. He was starting to get the feeling that he was going to end up needing it.

"He grabbed under my rotor hub!" Vortex said somehow managing to sound indignant and put off at the same time.

"What!? I didn't know Autobots were into that kind of kink." Swindle said in disbelief.

"I'll hold the gun on him when he's done with me if you want?"

"Uh…I'll pass."

"I am not doing anything with anybot! What is wrong with you anyway?!" Blades snapped, the last part directed at Vortex who just shrugged nonchalantly. He began looking around trying to see if there was some way for him to get out of this mess without getting shot or doing something that he would having him purging on the deck and having his memory core reset. Part of him was hoping that this was all some kind of torture method of Vortex's but he wouldn't put it past the two 'cons to actually try and make him do something. There was a metal hatch of some sort sitting next to an opening leading down into one of the tanks. He would rather be shot than do **that**.

"Who said you had a choice?" Vortex said as he patted the top of Blades' helmet earning a slight growl. "Oh, keep that mentality up! I like it rough," Vortex purred.

Blades moved, kicking out with one ped, hitting the tank hatch which flew up and hit Swindle's arm. Blades heard the loud clunk as the gun was completely knocked from Swindle's servo and the clatter as it bounced across the deck. Spinning around and punching Vortex in the faceplate while he grabbed his arm. As soon as he was done with the initial hit he was turning back, pulling hard on Vortex's arm and hip throwing him into Swindle who had started to go after his gun. "Rough enough for you?!" he couldn't help but quip as Vortex hit Swindle.

The two Decepticons went crashing across the deck in a confusing whirl of limbs and bodies yelling obscenities at each other. Blades was about to access his subspace when he suddenly found himself dodging a shot from the space shuttle. Blast Off had twisted himself about as far as he could go tethered to the ship with the hose attached to his tank and was laying down cover fire for his teammates. Blades quickly rolled to the side, crossing about half of the deck, and ducked behind several crates that seemed to have been tossed there by someone. Most likely Swindle when he was connecting the hose to Blast Off.

"It figures that you two would require my assistance to deal with such a minor nuisance. Now, untangle yourselves and deal with him before I inform Onslaught of your unprofessional actions towards the success of this mission." Blades clearly hear Blast Off but every time he tried to peek around his shelter, the shuttle would let out a shot, forcing him to duck down again.

"If you do talk to Onslaught, ask if we can keep him!" Vortex's voice ranging out causing a trace of worry to filter through Blades' circuits. He had no doubt that Onslaught would call for his capture. If they had him prisoner they would greatly weaken Defensor and they would probably get a trade for his safety. He knew Hot Spot would turn anything over for his safe return. Of course, knowing what Vortex probably had in store for him, he would not be alright and in serious need of a defrag and a full overhaul when he got back.

"You wish," Blades hissed to himself as he drew his rifle and silently wished for Groove's photon pistol. With that he would be able to blind them and at least be able to buy enough time for him to get himself airborne. He could call in some air support from one of the Aerialbots but the risk was too high that a strafing run it would set off the tanker. He glanced up at the sky, watching them for an astrosecond as they continued to dogfight with the seekers between the ship and the shore where the rest of the battle was still raging. It didn't look like anyone was free enough to offer him support.

Some of his fear must've trickled over the bound because he suddenly received a private comm from Groove. :Blades? What's wrong? And don't even think of saying nothing.:

Out of all his brothers, Groove had the best grasp on the emotions that trickled through the bond, even in battle when they all blocked the bond so as not to distract each other. It didn't surprise Blades that Groove knew something was wrong. :Got pinned down on the tanker. Blast Off, Swindle and Vortex have me cornered.:

"Gotcha, I'll get you some support. Hang in there, Blades."

"I'll do my best," Blades said as he fired blindly around the crate making sure to aim high. The last thing any of them need was to accidentally start a fire on the tanker. While he did carry water laced with fire suppressant foam, the amount was too small if one of the tanks went up. That fire would burn out of his control in astroseconds and he doubted that the Combaticons would stop shooting at him long enough for him to even attempt to control a fire.

"Frag! Where's my gun?!" Swindle yelled.

Several more shots went past him, "Where ever you put your processor most likely!"

Vortex seemed to ignore both Swindle and Blast Off as a pair of rapid pedsteps charged towards his crate. Blades twisted around and opened fire blindly in direction of the steps, hoping to get lucky. His only reward was a slight misstep in the tempo of tracks before Vortex was lunging over the crate at him. "Come here, sweet rotors!"

The Decepticon quickly knocked aside Blades' rifle which flew off towards the side of the ship. There was a brief splash after a moment which caused Blades to internally roll his optics. Murphy's Rule or whatever humans called it was actually a rather aggravating coincidence in his own opinion. Blades didn't have any more time to dwell on it as Vortex and he rolled across the deck in a grappling match. Blades was able to get his ped up into Vortex's stomach plating and kicked out, flipping his opponent away from him long enough for Blades to jump back to his peds.

He turned to face Vortex, reaching behind him and disengaging his rotors, which he brought back to bare. "Sweet! I haven't had a good sword fight since that time Blast Off grounded that jet back on Cybertron." Vortex said disengaging two of his own rotors to bring around as well. "Come on, let's rumble!"

Blades launched himself at Vortex, knocking aside one of his blades to strike at him with one of his own. He quickly side stepped to avoid a lunge by Vortex and twisted his blade around to parry another strike by the other mech. The sound of their blades striking each other rang out over the tanker's deck as they began trading blows back and forth.

Out of the corner of his optic, Blades took stock of where Swindle and Blast Off were. It appeared that he and Vortex were too far off to the side for Blast Off to get a fix on him. The hose connecting him to the tanker was great limiting his mobility. Swindle on the other hand was more interested in one of the tanks. The Decepticon had almost his entire helmet in the hatchway as he looked inside. Blades danced backwards to avoid several swipes from Vortex before taking a swipe of his own in attempt to gain some more distance between them. If he could get airborne-

"SCRAP IT ALL TO PIT!"

Swindle's sudden cry was enough for both Blades and Vortex to pause and look over at where he had been at the hatch only to see he had vacated the area. Currently, Swindle was running across the deck heading for Blast Off. "Everymech abandon ship!" he yelled as he disengaged the hose connecting the shuttle to the ship. "Move it Vortex!" he yelled as he scrambled into Blast Off still open hatch.

"And for what reason are we abandoning our part of the mission?" Blast Off said still hovering in the same spot as if he was still connected to the ship.

"Yeah, I haven't gotten him to put out yet!" Vortex said lunging back into combat, stabbing at Blades' already damaged shoulder.

Blades knocked the attempt aside with relative ease. "I am not doing anything like that to you! Can't you get that through your thick helmet! I'd rather stab your optics out!"

"I'd rather you stab my-"

"Vortex! Enough! Leave the Autobot and fly!" Swindle yelled from where he was hanging out of Blast Off's hatch. "The forward tank's on fire! Get-" Whatever else was in the warning Swindle had been trying to get across to his gestalt mate was lost as Blast Off engaged his thrusters and took off wanting nothing to do with an oil tanker that was on fire.

"What?!" Blades looked off towards the forward tank. He did a quick sensor sweep of the area only to cringe when his sensors picked up a highly concentrated heat source in the ship's bulkhead. Now that he was actually looking for it Blades noticed the even thicker black smoke rising out of the ship's smoke stack. The smoke had been slowly filling the ship instead of billowing out the single hatch. That meant a tank rupture which meant that there was a good chance that the entire ship was only seconds away from exploding. "Frag!"

A punch to his faceplates quickly followed by a slash of blade to his shoulder had Blades reeling backwards as Vortex pressed his advantage. "Are you nuts?!" Blades said as he blocked another slash of a sword. His right shoulder had finally been damaged enough to affect his functionality. He couldn't lift his arm more than thirty degrees away from his body. "We have to get out of here, Vortex! The whole ship is getting ready to go up!"

"Exactly and you're coming with me!" the other helicopter said in a determined voice.

"How about no!" He ducked another swipe from Vortex's blade and kicked him in the stomach plating knocking the Decepticon away from him. Blades then ran for the closest side of the ship, according to his sensors the fire in the tank was getting hotter. If he could get over the side, he would be able to avoid the majority of the blast and resulting fire. The force of the explosion would mostly be directed up.

However, the rest of the Autobots forces -mainly the Aerialbots who were almost above the tanker- would be caught in it. :Everyone! BRACE FOR EXPLOSION! Especially Aerials!: Blades yelled over the Autobot's general battle frequency that was being supported by Blaster over Soundwave's dampener field. He replaced his rotors as he ran and tried to transform. He wasn't surprised by the error that flashed across his HUD. 'Aid was going to fritz when he saw his shoulder. Ratchet may even have to do a microsurgery on it which was almost as much fun as fighting with Vortex had been.

:Blades, report.: Prowl's voice echoed over the general frequency.

Streetwise's voice suddenly blared over the comm as his fear trickled through the blocks in the bond, :Blades! Do I see a fire on the tanker!:

:Everyone get down! It's go-: Blades never got a chance to finish.

He didn't hear the explosion or feel any heat. The deck just seemed to warp underneath his peds and then he was thrown into the air as if Omega Supreme had tossed him skyward. Hot Spot yelling his name cut out abruptly as his comm unit failed leaving him with nothing but static that seemed to leak into his processor and optics. It over powered all his systems and forced him into stasis. The last thing he was aware of was a surge of fear and worry over the bond before everything slipped away.

-Break-

Blades onlined slowly, several systems screaming at him how badly damaged they were even before he had fully powered up. He moaned and rolled off his side and onto his front. With more effort than he originally though, Blades forced himself to his servos and knees. His right shoulder let out a very unhealthy sounding whine as it helped to support his weight and several error messages popped up on his screen telling him that he really shouldn't be using it anymore. He was definitely going to need to go into surgery now.

Blades slowly sat up on his knees and surveyed where ever the frag he was as he disregarded error message after error message, taking note of what was damage and what wasn't damaged but more interested in his surroundings at the moment. He was on the shore but how he had gotten there he wasn't sure. An uneasy feeling filled him and he had a feeling he was being watched even though he couldn't see anything. He twitched as he moved to stand. Why did he have a feeling he was in even deeper slag then when he had been pinned down by the three Combaticons on the tanker?

He didn't recognize his location. He had been heading towards the side of the ship that faced out to the open sea, if anything he should have revived on the ocean floor or surrounded by Autobots after Seaspray had plucked him off the bottom. The shore he was on showed no signs of combat or even where some mech would have dragged him out of the water. It was like he had been just set down there and then left alone. He knew better than to try accessing his location, his GPS had been one of the systems giving him an error.

He was getting another error from his communicator. It hadn't been damaged before the explosion and as he went over it he realized that someone had been very careful in disabling it. Long range and short range comms were completely down, several important components were actually gone. They appeared to have been forcibly ripped out by the looks of it and Blades seethed quickly to himself. Someone had definitely wanted him to be alone.

He tried to access his rifle -completely forgetting for a moment that it had been knocked away from him on the tanker- and instead took one of his blade swords from his rotary hub. He held it in front of him defensively and scanned the area once again with his damaged sensors as best as he could. Whoever had brought him here wasn't going to stay away forever and he was not in any condition to put up much of a fight. He needed back up and while he wouldn't be able to talk to them over the comms, he could still reach his brothers. Hopefully, they could get him some help.

He didn't dare sink too deeply into the bond. If he focused completely on it he would lose touch with everything around him, including his sensor array, but he could still reach out and attract one of his brother's attention. Still keeping a wary optic and his remaining sensors on his surroundings, Blades mentally reached into the bond, sending out and inquisitive pulse while allowing some of his caution and worry to slip through as well. '_Guys? Can you hear me?'_

'_BLADES!'_

'_Blades! Primus, are you alright?'_

'_Are you hurt? Where are you?'_

'_What happened?'_

Blades rocked back on his heels at the sudden onslaught of worry and relief that came rushing through the bond that he almost missed his brothers' voices. He was shocked at how quickly their presences pressed against his. Streetwise and Groove all but pounced on his own, both of them worried and concerned but very much relieved that he was reassuring them. Hot Spot and First Aid were also sending forth the same feelings of concern and relief but they seemed distant, distracted by something. First Aid was asking about his functionality and Hot Spot wanted a report. Blades figured that Hot Spot was most likely trying to help deal with the fire and First Aid was attending to patients, either Autobots or humans.

'_Where are you?_' Streetwise was pressing him, his inquisitive presence's was demanding, and Blades was sure he was trying to raise him over the communication lines at the same time.

'_I don't know,_' Blades sent back, shifting his stance as his sensor sweeps were still coming up with nothing. He didn't like the quiet. He knew something was out there. Frag, he was starting to sound like Red Alert. '_I'm on a shore somewhere, communications and location equipment have been slagged.'_

'_What happened?'_ Hot Spot sent through the bond again.

'_I'm not sure, the last thing I remember was the tanker exploding, and then I woke up here.' _He took several steps away from where he had been standing, turning as he went, trying to pick up on anything out of place. '_Don't know who brought me here.'_

'_The Aerialbots and Seaspray are looking for you, just hang tight_,' Hot Spot assured him.

'_You're fairly far away,_' Streetwise's presence was flooding the bond as it reached towards Blades. He reached back towards his brother, knowing that Streetwise was trying to get a fix on him through the bond. '_Over the water. Not entirely west of us, too far North… That's it,' _Streetwise said as his presence suddenly seemed much more chipper than it had been before. '_There are several small islands up the coast from here, you must be o-'_

Pain suddenly exploded in his lower left side causing him to jerk and gasp, his blade falling limply from his fingers in shock. His pain back lashed into the bond before he could stop it. Streetwise, being the deepest in the bond felt it the worst and let out string of gibberish before falling out of the bond completely, most likely into standby from the shock. Blades felt Street's part of the bond collapse in on itself as his other three brother's reeled in surprise and worry. Hastily, he erected a block to keep them from feeling it as the blade in his abdomen was cruelly twisted.

'_Blades?! What's happened?!'_ He heard and felt Hot Spot's distress just before he sealed them off as best he could. He couldn't seem to focus enough on the block and he could distantly feel Hot Spot poking at it, testing to see how strong it was.

"So it was 'Aid, right?" a sickenly sweet voice whispered in his ear. "Please tell me it was 'Aid. I'm sure that the only way this could have been better was if he was right here with you, watching me do this." The sword twisted slightly in his internals causing him to gasp again as the pain renewed itself. He struggled to fill in the holes in his block as Hot Spot was suddenly throwing all his presence at him, no longer distracted by whatever he had been doing and intent on finding out what was happening to Blades.

It took Blades a moment to realize what Hot Spot was trying to do. His oldest brother was trying to pull some of the pain through the bond and siphoning it off of Blades. It would help clear Blades' processor, allowing Blades to function by deadening the blinding pain slowly building to overwhelming levels in his processor. He feeble fought Hot Spot but Vortex's voice broke his concentration.

"Or maybe it was Groove. I could only imagine that peace loving, pacifist's face if he saw me run you through," Vortex continued heedless of the internal struggle going on inside Blades as he fought with renewed vigor to push Hot Spot away. He didn't need to accidentally cripple Hot Spot too, bad enough that he had hurt Street. "Or perhaps it was that gun-ho blue fire truck, hmm? I bet Hot Spot would give anything to be here right now. Probably even give his spark up to protect you. But since he's not here how about we use your spark instead?"

He twisted the blade and pulled it up, causing it to pierce up into Blades' chest armor. He whimpered but quickly swallowed it. He didn't want to give the interrogator the pleasure. Despite Blades trying to push him away, Hot Spot's efforts were finally starting to work and the pain was dulling down somewhat, allowing Blades to process things more clearly. "It was Streetwise, bet he was just trying to help fin-"

Blades had never felt more joy in elbowing a mech in the faceplates.

Vortex's head snapped back, a muffled garble of words escaping his vocalizer. Blades quickly twisted off to the side, the blade that ran through him wasn't designed to cut the way he was forcing it to bend, and with a resounding crack it snapped. Vortex fell on his rotors holding the base of his broken sword while Blades stumbled away. Part of the sword was still through his chassis and the pain of breaking free had nearly off lined his optics but Hot Spot had help prevent that, pulling the extra pain away. Blades then realized that Groove was also in the bond too, just as strong as Hot Spot was, and the two of them began working in tandem to support him. He still couldn't feel Street and 'Aid seemed to be distracted but focused. Blades hoped that he was trying to help Streetwise.

Blades couldn't find it in himself to stand up straight but he could work with the slight hunch in his posture. His injured right arm pressed up against the wound in his left side as best as it could, his servo wrapped around and holding the blade still. The piece of sword in his side was what caused him to lean the most but it also seemed to be stopping him from leaking to death. It was pressed against one of the main lines in his chest and if it was removed, Blades was sure he would slip into energy depletion stasis within a few astroseconds.

"Cheap trick," grouched Vortex as he got back to his feet. Sand cascaded off of him giving Blades an idea of how the 'con had snuck up on him in the first place. Vortex stood to his full height, standing in front of the depression where he had hid under the sand and waited for Blade to recover. "And after everything I did to help you."

"Help me? How in the name of Primus have you been helping me?" Blades snapped as reached back and grabbed his last rotor blade.

Vortex didn't even seem fazed by him reaching for his sword. With a tilt of his helmet in the Cybertronian version of a shrug he continued, "How do you think you ended up here then? I took the liberty of grabbing you before you went helmet first into the ocean. So where is my thank you?"

"What? You've got a screw or ten loose!"

"But aren't you supposed to thank somebody when they help you?"

"You stabbed me and you want me to thank you?!"

"Well, it's more than that. What have you done for me, tease?" Blades let his engine growl as he shifted his stance slightly. A small part of him knew he wouldn't last long in another fight with Vortex but the rest of him wanted nothing more than to beat the skid plates off the other mech in front of him. Vortex turned and started to walk away, "Since you won't put out, maybe I can get one of your brothers too. Something tells me that Streetwise would be so much fun to play with. Maybe he'll actually put ou-"

"LEAVE HIM THE SLAG ALONE!" He suddenly didn't care how badly injured he was anymore or even how out matched he was in his current state. Vortex had threatened his brothers one too many times and Blades would rather die than let the Decepticon helicopter near them. Blades charged the other mech, keeping a firm grip on the blade that ran through him to prevent it from doing any more damage to his chassis.

Vortex turned when he was with the larger mech's reach and Blades found himself twisting his sword around to avoid the slash of the knife coming in from the side. He hadn't expected charging the Decepticon would have been that easy. Blades quickly rolled with the punch as he saw the flicker of movement coming in from the opposite side. It took out most of the force out of the punch but Blades still briefly saw stars even as he kicked out blindly. There was a satisfying clunk as he connected with some part of leg and -judging on how it buckled- had to be part of Vortex's knee component.

He heard him growl and without even thinking Blades slammed his helmet upwards, hitting the other helicopter right on the chin causing Vortex to stumble backwards. Blades pressed his advantage, stabbing forward with his sword aiming towards the mech's chest plating. Vortex twisted his shoulder backwards, bending in a very unusual way for a transformer, but causing Blades' sword to cut across his armor and not through it. The Decepticon then grabbed Blades by his servo and twisted it cruelly away from him, depressurizing the hydraulic lines and causing the Blades to release one of his last weapons despite his best attempts to hold on.

This maneuver had left his entire right side open and Blades was an opportunist when it came to fighting. He kneed Vortex so hard he felt the armor buckle and collapse on both the helicopter's side and his knee plate. Vortex convulsed and released his wrist, biting out a mumbled curse as he quickly turned back towards Blades, a move that Blades had been counting on. Taking a cue from Slingshot's book, Blades had spun away from Vortex -briefly exposing his back for a astrosecond which was something he was not comfortable with in a fight- but allowing him to build up momentum as he allow his speed to carry him around. The heel of his ped collided beautifully with the side of Vortex's battle mask as he completed the kick, denting it inward and knocking the Decepticon to the side as his visor cracked.

The hit obviously hadn't fazed Vortex as much as he had hoped because the 'con barely took two steps to stabilize himself before leaping at Blades. Unused to that kind of maneuver, Blades was still struggling to gain back his own balance and was unable to avoid Vortex as he crashed into them, sending them both backwards several steps and then over onto the ground with Blades on the bottom. Blades felt water invade his systems as his part of his shoulders became submerged but he was more worried about being pinned down. He tried to put his ped into Vortex's stomach to shove him away like he had before but only managed to get his knee up as Vortex's weight came crashing down, trapping him in a rather awkward position.

"Well now," Vortex said laughing, venting a bit harder than normal. "You're putting up more of a fight than I thought you were going to." He was holding onto Blades' left servo and slowly reached toward the piece of blade still lodged in Blades' side. Blades still had his right servo wrapped around it, preventing it from moving even in the unexpected fall, but now his own leg was pinning his right arm down. Even if it had been to full capacity it would have been useless. However, Blades knew he had one more trick under in armor. "I like a mech that fights back. How bad do you think this will hurt? I can rotate it about and then pull it out."

"You could just look down," Blades offered as there was a click between them. Vortex looked between them startled just as Blades opened the valve on the water cannon built into his leg. The water jet sent for a high powered stream of water laced with fire suppressant foam that hit Vortex full in the face causing the his helmet to snap backwards from the intense pressure and a thin layer of foam to cover his battle mask and visor. The Decepticon had let go of him on reflex and Blades took his chance, punching upward into Vortex's chest plate causing the Decepticon to move back enough from him to get his leg free and kick him off.

Vortex went right over onto his back struts and Blades scrambled to his peds, lunged for his sword still laying nearby in the sand. He grabbed it with his good servo and turned back around just as Vortex was sitting up. He shoved the blade forward and, had Vortex not paused in sitting up, the sword would have gone right through his neck cables.

Both combatants froze for a brief second as their processors struggled to keep pace with their actions. Blades wanted to drag down and slice through all the major cabling in Vortex's throat but he couldn't. Despite the fact that this mech had attacked him and threatened his family, Blades just couldn't offline him. "What's the matter Autobot?" Vortex asked serenely as if he wasn't in a life or death situation. "Too scared to offline me?"

"Hardly," Blades said without a second thought. "Even if you don't deserve it, I still have compassion. Now, radio the Autobots to come get us and you get to sit in a nice cell until Optimus decides what to do with you." He sent a burst of confidence tinted with his usual smugness across the bond and felt both Groove and Hot Spot relax a bit in their efforts. Through past experiences and fights they knew what he felt when he won in a fight. He felt the pain that had vanished completely during the fight start to creep back into his processor. He sighed, knowing full well that he would soon be listening to both 'Aid and Ratchet yelling at him about the damages that had been done to him.

"Tsk, tsk, poor foolish Autobot," Vortex sounded like he was smiling and that suddenly put Blades on edge. As his mood shifted so did Hot Spot and Groove's, there was an inquisitive ping over the bond from one of them but Blades didn't have time to reassure them before Vortex started talking again. "You should have just off lined me when you had a chance."

Blades opened his mouth to find out why when something big landed behind him. He barely managed to turn his helmet around when a large black fist backhanded him away from Vortex. The hit stung but not as much as when he crashed into the sand several astrometers away. Even worst, he lost his grip on the blade in his stomach plates and it jerked with the landing causing pain to flare across his sensors. Hot Spot and Groove stumbled at the sudden burst of pain but neither left him and -as he looked over at Vortex and the new arrival- he was suddenly glad he wasn't so alone. Hot Spot must've picked up on his trepidation because he sent him a pulse of reassurance even though Blades barely paid attention to it.

'_Frag,'_ he sent over the bond. Now he knew he was in slagging deep trouble.

'_What is it?_' Hot Spot asked and Blades wished his brother was standing there next to him more than ever.

'_Onslaught…'_ Staring up at a fully functioning and angry looking Onslaught would make pretty much any mech wish for help regardless of their current level of functionality.

'_Help is on the way, just hanging in there, Blades.'_

Though Onslaught was watching his every movement, when he spoke he was addressing Vortex. "When I radioed you to withdraw, that was not up for interpretation. Explain."

Onslaught's tone of voice didn't make it seem like a question but Vortex didn't hesitate in giving a reply, "Trying to put a real kink in the Autobot forces by crippling Defensor."

Blades felt a cold pit of dread as Onslaught continued to gaze at him and some of his fear leaked into the bond. Hot Spot reassured him again just as quickly and Blades longed to have his older there beside him. Hot Spot would give Onslaught more of a beating then he ever could fully functional. In his presence state, Blades doubted he could even manage to annoy the Combaticon leader.

"While the physiological impact on the Protectobots would be great, it wouldn't necessarily cripple Defensor," Onslaught said slowly, still thinking about how Blades would be used to his best advantage. "He transforms into Defensor's right arm, the gestalt could still form and fight without him." Before Blades could even feel a glimmer of hope that a miracle would happen and they would just leave him alone, Onslaught continued, "He would better serve our purpose as a bargaining chip."

Onslaught then started towards him and Blades quickly struggled to his feet, despite the pain it brought and the indecision on what to do next. There was really no way to avoid getting caught by Onslaught. Even if he did have his weapons and was capable of fighting, he doubted that there would be much he could do to prevent Onslaught from incapacitating him and taking him anyway. And there was no way in slagging pit he was going to give either him or Vortex the pleasure of seeing him run away. "Can I keep him till we trade him back?" A shiver went down his back struts, Blades didn't like the anticipation in Vortex's voice at all.

"As long as you don't deactivate him I don't see why not," Onslaught said as he continued towards Blades. Blades glanced off towards the forest and then at the ocean willing another Autobot to suddenly appear. "You won't get far," the combiner commander approaching him said, misreading his look. Blades faced him and, despite his better judgment, let out a weak growl and shifted into a defensive stance. "Honestly, you do-"

Whatever he had been about to say was broken off as a pair of engines suddenly raced overhead and the sound of a mech transforming came to their audios. Onslaught looked up briefly before quickly jumping backward and reaching into his subspace for his rifle. Blades' view was suddenly blocked as the newcomer landed, sending a wave of sand into his optics. The only sounds in the sudden calm of the new mech's arrival was the sound of two guns charging in a standoff as the sound of two engines ticking as they started to cool down. As Blades wiped the sand out of his optics, a low, dangerously angry voice that was very welcome to Blades' audios calmly said, "Back off, Onslaught."

If he couldn't have Hot Spot there, Silverbolt was by far the best replacement he could ask for, second only to Optimus Prime.

The Aerialbot commander and the Combaticon leader faced off for a moment longer in a stalemate before Onslaught took a step back, "Vortex, withdraw."

"What? We could so take him." Vortex said as he stepped up alongside Onslaught. His sole focus was still fixated on Blades. Blades glared back. He debated asking for Silverbolt for a rifle only to have Silverbolt silently reach out and forced Blades to step behind him, much to Blades annoyance.

"Silverbolt and Blades perhaps, but not before their reinforcements get here." The high pitched whines of jet engines were the herald of the approaching Aerialbots. "Fall back."

Blades didn't see them leave thanks to Silverbolt's wing in his way but, as the sounds of their thrusters vanished, it was replaced by the roar of jet engines as they entered the immediate area followed by the sounds of more transformations. The other four Aerialbots dropped out of the sky around him as Silverbolt turned around, finally satisfied that the two Combaticons weren't coming back.

"Frag, I've heard of taking trophies from the battlefield but I think that you're doing it wrong, Blades." Air Raid said as he trotted over, looking over the damage to his chassis. "Ratchet's going to flip his coolant cap when he sees this."

As the Aerialbot's self-appointed medic began inspecting the injury, Fireflight walked over looking worried. "Are you alright?" he asked in a small voice while he placed a servo to his lip components looking vaguely ill.

"He's got a slagging sword run through him. I doubt he's doing well 'Flight." Slingshot snapped looking thoroughly disinterested in what was happening as he stood off to the side, arms crossed and scanning the sky slowly in case the Combaticons came back.

"Enough, Slingshot," Silverbolt said as a servo came up and lightly touched his back. It was then that Blades realized he was leaning backwards. "Air Raid?"

"Well if he doesn't sit or lay down soon he's going to end up falling over," Air Raid said as he pushed at Blades' chest plate. Blades knocked it aside with an irritated grumble. He did not need or want to lay down.

"Skyfire's on approach," Skydive said from the opposite side of the group from Slingshot, also scanning the sky. "ETA is four minutes. He has Ratchet and the rest of the Protectobots on board." He then looked at Fireflight who was starting to turn an interesting shade of green on his faceplates. "Are you alright, Fireflight?"

His brothers. He leaned into the bond and felt relief as he sensed all of them again. Hot Spot was still siphoning his pain but even he and his everlasting flow of energy were slowing down. Blades was worried and sent that to his oldest brother but was quickly reassured by him. Groove sent him the equivalent of a quick hug over the bond. Even Streetwise was there, still a bit distant, but present again which was a relief in itself. The tracker gave him a pulse of reassurance and there was some cheekiness added to it that let Blades know he was going to be alright. First Aid was worrying over him and was a constant nagging presence in the back of his processor, insisting that he rest and do whatever Air Raid told him too.

"Gottcha!" Air Raid suddenly said, all but jumping on him. Blades flailed as best he could but Air Raid easily pressed a medical spike into the access port on his neck and a depressor slid over his circuits.

"Fragger," he growled, cuffing Air Raid upside the helmet as he began to list hard to his left as the depressor worked fast on his strained systems. He barely was able to process that he should attempt to catch himself when servos caught him from behind. Silverbolt lowered him to the ground, supporting him so that the rotor sword running through Blades' chassis didn't touch the ground. Blades mumbled something derogatory about jets in general but even he wasn't able to tell what it had been.

He was lulled into the medical induced recharge by the sounds of Fireflight purging on Skydive's peds. Something that Skydive was not happy about if the amount of grumbling from him was any indication. Slingshot was laughing over the sounds of Fireflight bumbling through an apology. There was another jet was approaching and he assumed it was Skyfire coming in for a landing. The bond was humming with his brothers' warmth and support, promising that it was going to be alright. Finally he gave up, relaxing fully into Silverbolt's hold.

But not before he promised himself to get back at Vortex.


End file.
